The move means Kensa has the largest number of ENA Connect & Notify approved ground-source heat pump products in the UK - over 60 per cent of the ENA single-phase database - enabling simpler, quicker and lower cost ground-source heat pump installations.
Kensa Heat Pumps' technical director and co-founder, Guy Cashmore, commented: "Installers of heat pumps will be familiar with the complications, hassle and potential additional costs of a heat pump not being ENA Connect & Notify approved.
"Meantime, homeowners may not be aware that the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) requires evidence of District Network Operator (DNO) ENA approval. For heat pumps which are not Connect & Notify approved, this approval process could cost the homeowner thousands, maybe even tens of thousands of pounds, along with substantial delays.
"Kensa's significant Connect & Notify status eliminates these additional cost risks for the consumer and hassle for installers; this is a fantastic opportunity for the UK's adoption of ground-source heat pumps."
Connect & Notify approved heat pumps are deemed to be suited to DNO electricity supplies without the requirement for upgrades. Should, in rare instances, an upgrade be necessary, the DNO is obliged to supply this at its cost; the opposite is the case for non-Connect & Notify heat pumps, where the consumer is required to pay any upgrade costs.
For installers, the consequence of non-Connect & Notify heat pumps requires an application for DNO permission prior to installation and connection, creating delays and approval uncertainty, and therefore also RHI uncertainty. The DNO decision takes into account how robust the electricity supply is at the installation location and the anticipated demand of the heat pump system on the electricity supply. If a DNO deems a supply upgrade is necessary, this is usually chargeable and can be very costly. Being on Connect & Notify eliminates the possibility of these charges and removes any delay while permission is obtained.
To achieve ENA Connect & Notify status requires compliance with a strict set of standards limiting the maximum electricity demand of the heat pump.
"Units with internal boosts and immersion heaters are at an immediate disadvantage as most will exceed the demand limit," Cashmore continued. "Larger capacity units with inverters can fall foul of harmonics limits; units without inverters produce very little harmonics - all of Kensa's products are fixed speed compressor driven. Starting current is also naturally a common ENA issue for other heat pump manufacturers, whereas all of Kensa's ground-source heat pumps meet starting current limits."
The Kensa ground-source heat pump models approved as Connect & Notify on the ENA database are the Shoebox ground-source heat pump series (3kW, 6kW) and Evo ground-source heat pump series (7kW, 9kW, 13kW, three-phase 15kW pending*).
Kensa's Shoebox heat pump series is designed to be installed in a cupboard and is experiencing wide-scale installation utilising Kensa's shared ground loop array design, a form of district heating. The Evo heat pump series features the first dedicated system controller for ground-source heat pumps and a live CoP efficiency display.
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